Audiobook Review: The Lady from Burma by Allison Montclair

The Lady from Burma
Author: Allison Montclair
Narrator: Polly Lee
Series: Sparks & Bainbridge Mysteries (Book 5)
Publication: Tantor Audio (July 25, 2023)
Length: 10 hours and 27 minutes

Description: In Allison Montclair's The Lady from Burma, murder once again stalks the proprietors of The Right Sort Marriage Bureau in the surprisingly dangerous landscape of post-World War II London…

In the immediate post-war days of London, two unlikely partners have undertaken an even more unlikely, if necessary, business venture - The Right Sort Marriage Bureau. The two partners are Miss Iris Sparks, a woman with a dangerous - and never discussed - past in British intelligence and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge, a war widow with a young son entangled in a complicated aristocratic family. Mostly their clients are people trying to start (or restart) their lives in this much-changed world, but their new client is something different. A happily married woman has come to them to find a new wife for her husband. Dying of cancer, she wants the two to make sure her entomologist, academic husband finds someone new once she passes.

Shortly thereafter, she's found dead in Epping Forest, in what appears to be a suicide. But that doesn't make sense to either Sparks or Bainbridge. At the same time, Bainbridge is attempting to regain legal control of her life, opposed by the conservator who has been managing her assets - perhaps not always in her best interest. When that conservator is found dead, Bainbridge herself is one of the prime suspects. Attempting to make sense of two deaths at once, to protect themselves and their clients, the redoubtable owners of the Right Sort Marriage Bureau are once again on the case.

My Thoughts: The women of the Right Sort Marriage Agency have matched a number of lonely people in their brief history as a business. This time they might have their greatest challenge. Their newest client is a woman looking for a wife for her husband. She's dying of cancer and wants to provide for the future happiness of a man she loves very much. He's a shy entomologist, much happier with bugs than with people. Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge agree to take the contract to be fulfilled at some future date, and Gwen secures a promise that the woman will not commit suicide.

The time for Gwen's case in the courts of Lunacy is approaching. She is being introduced to the company where she owns 40% since the death of her husband. She is invited to attend her first board meeting by the current chairman which is usually attended by the lawyer who was appointed by the court to manage her financial interests until she is proved sane and competent. Unfortunately, she foils that lawyer's plot to take over Bainbridge which further alienates the lawyer who hasn't been forthright with her from the beginning of their legal relationship.

Then the deaths start to happen. First of all, the cancer-stricken client is found dead in Epping Wood of an apparent suicide. Then the shady lawyer is found beaten to death in Soho at a time when Gwen, devasted by the results of the court hearing which didn't free her to manage her own affairs, doesn't have an alibi since she was wandering the streets in despair. 

A local constable is on the case of the so-called suicide which he isn't willing to accept. Nor are the women at the Right Sort. Iris and Gwen begin to look into that case to discover who had reason to murder her. They are also looking into the murder of the lawyer since Gwen is one of the main suspects for the crime. 

There is a lot of investigating and connections between the two cases are discovered. Also discovered in a bit of financial fraud committed by the lawyer who has been skimming from Gwen's accounts. Unfortunately, that fact gives Gwen even more reason to want him dead. 

This was another excellent episode in the Sparks & Bainbridge series. I loved the way both women's relationships are growing, and I love the way Gwen is finally getting the right to manage her own life. 

There was a change of narrator with this episode and, at first, I wasn't happy with the portrayals of the characters. Iris seemed too young, and Gwen seemed to have dropped down a couple of social classes if her accent was any guide. I also had difficulty distinguishing between Iris and Gwen until I got used to the new accents. Ultimately, I did enjoy this audio presentation. 

I bought this one in Kindle and audiobook. You can buy your copy here.